1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a belt-lock for a safety belt in which a tongue is inserted into the lock-housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Belt-locks for a safety belt in which a tongue can be plugged into a plug-in passageway in the housing of the lock, and which can be locked by a movable spring-loaded latch are known. In order to move the latch to the open position, a slide member which slides in a guide in the lock-housing is provided. The slide member is activated by a pushbutton that can be pressed into the lock-housing against the force of a spring.
When the pushbutton which, for example, can be constructed in the form of a one-armed lever, is pressed-in, the slide member supported in the housing of the lock and slideable longitudinally, is displaced, similar to a sliding gear over a sloped guide. This slide-member, in turn, resets the latch, which is engaged with the plug-in tongue, to the open position, so that the tongue and the belt-lock can be separated from each other. For this purpose, in conventional manner, a springy ejector in the plug-in path of the lock-housing, pushes the plug-in tongue out of the plug-in path when the latch moves to the open position. Usually, the belt-lock is fastened to the chassis of the motor vehicle. The plug-in tongue is fastened to the free end of a safety belt, which belt can be rolled in or out of an automatic roll-up device. In such accessories for motor vehicles, one generally tries to construct and support the various structural members to avoid an annoying rattle when the car is in motion. This condition is fulfilled with certain individual parts of such a belt-lock, because these parts, for example, the ejector, the push-button and the latch, are always under spring pressure. A problem with respect to annoying rattle arises only with the slide-member which moves longitudinally in the lock housing and for which, functionwise, there is no pressure spring. If one wants to avoid the additional costs for arranging a special pressure spring for holding the slide member, or wants to avoid the cost-intensive precise fitted support of the slide-member, one must accept the fact that the slide-member rattles when the vehicle moves over uneven roads, due to the relatively loose guide-fit of the slide-member. This rattle will occur whether or not the passenger uses the safety belt.